Ginny Stibolt began her professional life as a teacher and over the years has taught math, biology, business, and computer courses at levels from 7th grade through college. She is a life-long gardener with a Master of Science degree in Botany from the University of Maryland. Since moving to Florida in 2004, she has written 5 peer-reviewed books on Florida gardening all published by University Press of Florida. She has also coauthored the award-winning book, "Climate-Wise Landscaping," published by New Society Press in 2018. In addition, she has written hundreds of gardening and nature articles for various publications.

She speaks regularly to environmental and gardening groups. Starting in 2017, she has been a lecturer for Holland America, Marella, and Viking where she covers broad, science-based topics such as oceans, rainforests, and shorelines. She also covers destination topics such as regional ecosystems and historical and present-day crops. One goal of her cruise ship presentations is to help people better appreciate the natural world as they travel.

Her website is www.GreenGardeningMatters.com

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Destination presentations

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Some of these presentations are flexible and can be adjusted for specific localities. For instance, "Coffee" could be for Hawaii, South and Central America, Caribbean, Africa, Middle East, Mediterranean, or Pacifica. I adjust the presentations for each itinerary to ensure that it works well as a destination-oriented talk. In addition, even though I delve into some hard science, I make sure that anyone can understand the principles. Many cruisers have told me that they thought they hated science, but now that I've made it understandable and fun, that they love it. I enjoy the longer assignments with ten or more presentations, because that allows for the cruisers to build a greater understanding of nature and the science behind it.

1) Oceans: The "Real Lungs" of the World
Thank the oceans' plants for the producing up to 80% of the world's oxygen and because they are the basis for the oceanic ecosystems. Coral reefs and other oceanic ecosystems are important for fisheries and more.
2) Rainforests: the most diverse ecosystems in the World
Dive into the world's rainforests, because there is so much going on under the calm-looking canopies. Both tropical and temperate rainforests affect the global climate by cooling the air, by sequestering carbon, and by supplying water vapor into the upper atmosphere.
2a) Rainforests and the Panama Canal
Explore rainforests, both tropical and temperate, and learn how they affect the global climate by cooling the air, by sequestering carbon, and by supplying water vapor into the upper atmosphere. Also, learn the details on how tropical rainforests of Central America play a vital role in the running of the Panama Canal.
2b)Temperate rainforests
Dive into the world's rainforests, because there is so much going on under the calm-looking canopies. Both tropical and temperate rainforests affect the global climate by cooling the air, by sequestering carbon, and by supplying water vapor into the upper atmosphere.
3) Between the land and the sea
Explore the shorelines that we see from the ship. Intertidal areas, wetlands, and mangroves protect shorelines and provide important habitat for birds, fish, crustaceans, and more.
4) Traveling plants
Examine how plants spread. Over millennia plants have developed various methods of disbursal, but humans have changed these patterns around the world.
5) Wake up and smell the coffee
Learn why some plants produce caffeine. The two main species of coffee are native to Africa, but now they are grown in many areas of the world. Learn how coffee is grown and processed.
6) Brazil's amazing agriculture
Learn how Brazil has become a global agricultural powerhouse through some unconventional methods. Brazil has been a big player in some crops such as coffee and citrus for centuries.
7) Food & Agriculture of the Caribbean: An Historical Perspective
Learn about some of the dramatic twists and turns of post-Columbian agriculture in the Caribbean Islands. Some iconic crops such as tobacco, sugarcane, and others have defined the islands' culture in many ways.
8) The olive: A bitter and sweet saga
Explore how the European olive tree became a crop, not only in the Mediterranean, but also in both North and South America. Olives trees produce high yields and require minimum upkeep. While the fruit is bitter, the oil is not.
9) Palms
Learn how palms played an important role in the development of ancient tropical cultures across Africa, Asia, and Europe. There are some palms that are still important crops today. A few palm crops have become controversial because of their environmental impact.
10) Grapes, wine, and vinegar
Learn how ancient cultures harnessed the fermentation of various grape crops, which provided signature products that have defined regions in Europe and elsewhere.
11) The Mediterranean region: its herbs, and other crops
Explore how plants have adapted to deal with the hot Mediterranean climate and why they produce their signature fragrances and tastes. People have learned how to harness these flavors.
12) The Nature of Florida and the Everglades
Explore Florida's unique ecosystems from its 700 springs to the Everglades and more. This presentation covers the amazing flora and fauna including birds, reptiles, mammals, and many interesting plants.
13) The flora and fauna of Rio de La Plata River Estuary
Explore the Rio de La Plata River Estuary and learn why estuaries are essential ecosystems for an amazing array of plants and wildlife. This one is the outlet for South America's second longest river.
14) The amazing Galapagos Islands!
Learn about the origins of this unique archipelago and its famous and not so famous flora and fauna, and since it's so isolated, how they arrived there. Charles Darwin wrote about how birds adapted to local conditions to survive.
15) Flora and fauna of Eastern Canada and New England
Explore beyond the iconic maple tree. There's a wide variety of plants and animals both famous and not that grace this beautiful area of the world.
16) Carnivorous plants
Learn about how carnivorous plants around the world have supplemented their nutrients by capturing insects and other small creatures. Most of them occur in peat bogs which are so acidic that most other plants cannot get enough nutrients from the soil to survive. These amazing plants have also solved the problem of attracting some insects to consume and others to pollinate their flowers.
17) The flora and fauna of beautiful Iceland
Explore the native plants and animals of Iceland and learn how they arrived on this isolated island and how they survive the harsh conditions there.
18) Farming methods of the Maya, Aztec, & Inca
Learn about how, in order to build their fabulous civilizations, these three ancient American peoples used different methods to feed themselves, but all were effective, at least for a while.
19) The flora and fauna of Amazon Basin
Learn how the natural aspects of this amazing jungle has changed over time. This region's history has produced many unique plants and animals that exist nowhere else.
20) Ancient crops of the Caribbean peoples
Learn how the indigenous peoples who moved from the Amazon Basin into the Caribbean islands survived and brought their crops and traditions with them. Also, learn about their first contact with Europeans.
21) Rubber, a native to the Amazonian jungle
Learn how the Brazilian rubber tree entered into the global economy in the 1800s. Rubber, as a crop, has had surprising history since then. Today more than 90% of the world's natural rubber is grown in Indonesia and Malaysia.
22) Hawaii: A timeline of Paradise
Learn about the origins of the beautiful Hawaiian Islands, the nature of their plants and animals, and how the natural aspects of this paradise have changed over time.
23) Ancient Polynesian farming: Roots of a civilization
Explore how the Polynesian wayfarers brought seeds, cuttings, and root stock of plants they'd need in unknown lands. These "Canoe Crops" demonstrate their deep understanding of the plants and how to use them.
24) How modern farming changed Hawaii
Learn how beginning in the 1800s, farming crops such as sugar, pineapple, and other changed Hawaii and Hawaiians in many ways.
25) Aquaculture
Dive into the interesting ways that people are learning to make aquaculture more efficient and more sustainable to raise fish for food.
26) The Nature of Walvis Bay
Explore the interface of the desert with the ocean and how the flora and fauna, particularly the birds, are influenced by this unique habitat.

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General presentations

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1) Public gardens take a walk on the wild side
Walk through traditional public gardens and you'll find that they are well-trimmed and orderly. Now explore how, newer public gardens have emphasized untrimmed native plants for attracting pollinators and supporting birds.
2)Gardens and gardeners around the World
Explore why to people "need" to garden with a tour of gardens large and small, especially those in unusual places.
3) Appreciating the natural world for travelers
Learn how to adjust your focus as you travel to look for the flora and the fauna of places you visit, not just the tourist destinations
4) The Nature of Our Travels
A series of self-running slide-shows with our photos of nature around the world. These are shown before the presentations and have been well received.

I'm an award-winning garden writer and experienced teacher.Guest lecturer for Holland America since 2017. I cover broad, science-based topics such as oceans, rainforests, and shorelines and destination topics such as historical crops and regional ecosystems.
I cover Americas, Polynesia, Mediterrean.

The following recent Cruise History has been recorded for this candidate.